


Colder Than I Used To Be

by autisticnonbinarymedic



Category: Super Mario Bros. (Video Games), Super Paper Mario (Game)
Genre: Dimentio is not present but very much important, Hurt/Comfort, Mario has ADHD, Trans Luigi (Nintendo), Trauma, dad bowser! dad bowser!!!, daisy is a probably but i only have one chapter listed, introspective sorta?, like. background tho., luigi having weird powers: i will choose to ignore this, luigi is autistic, luigi is trying to deal with everything that happened during spm, pre-relationship for bowser and luigi but luigi DOES have a crush, this was just called sad luigi :( in google docs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:26:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29455239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/autisticnonbinarymedic/pseuds/autisticnonbinarymedic
Summary: Titles from an ajj song bc I couldn't think of a better one. Hopefully I'll finish this.Also there's a lot of my personal headcanons in this that I hope make sense as things come along. Luigi's in a weird mental spot right now so he really has no idea what's going on internally. There's a reason Merlon is showing up.My way of trying to make Dimension Flipping work in a 3d way is having it be a form of teleportation. It's not great but I really don't have any better ideas.
Relationships: Bowser Koopa/Luigi (Nintendo), Mario/Peach-hime | Peach Toadstool
Comments: 7
Kudos: 23





	Colder Than I Used To Be

It hurt to think about the Chaos Heart incident.

It had been nearly a week at this point, and Luigi still could barely get out of bed. It was like he had the flu, but with all the emotional weight of what had happened constantly lingering in the back of his mind. 

His time as "Mr. L" was fuzzy, and he couldn't quite remember anything clearly. He had a few memories of how he felt, but all his knowledge of what he did came second hand. 

Well… until Dimentio took control of him with that floro seed. 

He clearly remembered fighting Bleck with Mario, Peach and Bowser, and remembered his body moving on its own when Dimentio showed up. After he was told to go and get ready for his "big entrance", it was all fuzzy again. 

Sometimes he's not sure if the Chaos Heart is truly gone, or if it just lies inside of him, dormant.

The first thing that he remembers after that is waking up in Bowser's arms. If he hadn't been in such pain, he probably would have jumped up out of embarrassment. It's not that he didn't like Bowser, quite the opposite in fact. But… that's not something to think about right now. 

He hadn't been left alone since the whole incident. It was almost always Mario at his side, telling stories or making jokes. Trying to be a good brother, a good distraction. Sometimes it was Peach, when Mario needed to sleep or cook. She'd sit and hum. Normally the two got along alright, but one sided conversations were never the princesses strong suit. Bowser would come by the least often, awkwardly sitting there and trying to be helpful. He'd tell stories of what his kids had been doing. 

Luigi had been healing up decently. He didn't fault Mario, or Peach, or Bowser for his injuries. They weren't trying to attack him, they were trying to attack Dimentio. It's… only an unfortunate side effect that those attacks somehow reflected onto Luigi. 

His sleep had been plagued with nightmares. He’d wake up in a cold sweat, but too overwhelmed to voice exactly what he’d dreamed about. Sometimes Mario would be awake to comfort him, holding his hand and being a grounding presence while Luigi calmed himself down. But, other times Mario fell asleep on the chair next to Luigi’s bed, accidentally leaving Luigi to deal with his dreams himself.  
  
He didn’t blame his brother. How could he? He could see the dark circles under his brother's eyes, the near-constant worry in his voice. Even if Mario had a hard time with showing affection under pressure, it was obvious that he cared for his brother. 

It was Saturday. At least, he thought it was. He opens his eyes a bit to look around his room, grunting as he sits up. 

"Oh, bro!" Mario comes into the room. He probably left to go to the bathroom or get the mail. "You alright? Need anything?"

"No, just… wanted to sit up." Luigi smiles tiredly. "Any mail?"

"Well, there's a card from Daisy for you. A couple of bills that I'll deal with. A… card from Bowser? At least, that's what the return address says…" Mario frowns. "Here."

Luigi takes the envelopes and slowly opens them, his hands stiff from the week of barely moving. The first is a cream-colored card with floral designs on the front. It’s not Daisy’s style, but Luigi’s always been fond of floral-themed cards, and he reads over the brief, but heartfelt (in Daisy’s own way, of course) message left within. 

_Hey, Luigi!_ _  
__  
__I heard about what happened, and I wish I could’ve been there! To kick all those assholes in the well, ass! And don’t try to stop me like you did with Bowser at least a dozen times. If I ever see them expect a follow-up card with pictures of me pummelling their asses._

_Anyways, I hope you’re recovering well. Mario said that you’re not too up to visitors at the moment, but a girl can dream, right? I miss hanging out with you! Hurry up and get better, ok?_ _  
__  
__Yours Truly,_

_Daisy_

He makes a note to write a thank you note, and opens the next note. “Bowser’s” note wasn’t really from Bowser, but from the Koopalings and Bowser Junior. It’s quite easy to tell, since the entire card is covered in doodles, though most of them are very clearly from Bowser Junior. He opens the handmade card, and there’s a bunch of brief “get well soons” from everyone, and a small note from Bowser.  
  


_Hope I didn’t mess up by telling my kids you weren’t doing all that great. See ya soon, green stache. - Bowser_

Luigi chuckles, and smiles tiredly, putting the two cards on his nightstand.

“So, what’d they have to say?” Mario sits down.

“Daisy was sending her well wishes, and the Koopalings and Bowser Junior sent me a get well soon card.”

“Well, that’s very nice of them.” Mario says, with a tired smile. “Hey, uh… Bro? Tonight Peach and I were going to go get some dinner. You wouldn’t mind if Bowser came to sit with you, right?”

“Course not! You deserve a night out. You’ve been doing nothing but sittin’ by me since…. Everything happened, and I’m more than happy to let you have some fun. I’ll be fine.” Luigi smiles, and yawns. “I wish I wasn’t so _tired_ though….” 

“Merlon also wanted to stop over to check on you. Not sure why, but he was pretty insistent about it. He said that he’d be here around three, and it’s just about noon, so if you want to sleep a bit more, you have the time.” 

Luigi nods. “Thanks, bro. I think I’m gonna get up, actually.” He looks out the window.” It looks like a nice day out there, and I’d like to sit outside for a bit.”

“Are you sure you’re well enough?” Mario fiddles with his fingers worriedly.

“I’ve been in bed for a week, bro. I need to get out of bed at some point, and also me and my sheets are starting to smell pretty bad.” He chuckles, and throws his legs over the side of the bed. He stands up, but his legs give out underneath him. Mario rushes over to catch Luigi before he hits the floor, but Luigi simply stops a couple of inches before hitting the ground.

Mario and Luigi go quiet, neither wanting to mention the development.

Luigi gets up, and makes sure he’s stable before walking out of the bedroom, and starting down the stairs. Mario follows, and stands on the other side of the stairwell to make sure Luigi doesn’t topple down the stairs. Once he’s safely down the stairs, Luigi goes outside and sits at the little table that he spent so long making last year.

It’s a truly lovely day outside. It’s late spring, the part of spring that’s nice and warm but not absurdly hot. The summer flowers are just starting to bloom, and the garden is growing nicely.

If his legs didn’t ache so bad, he would go for a walk. But his body still isn’t quite up to any sort of physical activity, so he’s stuck around his house for the time being. Which isn’t so bad.

_What if Dimentio is still out there?_

Luigi jumps in his seat, before wincing. Too sudden a movement for someone who’s legs already ache. Why does his mind do this? Deciding to focus on _that_ when he’s trying to relax.  
  
 _Because it could be true._

_The Chaos Heart is inside you. You’re not safe. No one is safe_ .  
  
He frowns, and sighs. _Not this again_ . He’s safe. The Chaos Heart is gone, Dimentio is dead, and they have yet another happy ending.  
  
 _Why are you so on edge then, Luigi?_

He looks back towards the door. “Hey, bro? Do you mind getting me some coffee?” Silence. “Bro?” Still, silence.  
  
Luigi gets up, and starts to walk to the kitchen, until he suddenly realizes that he’s… Already there? Wasn’t he just… Outside?  
  
He hears a dish shatter. “Luigi! How did… You were just…. How….?” Mario looks at him with confusion. “Did you…. Dimension flip?”  
  
“No, I couldn’t have! You could only do that when you were with Tippi, and not at _home_ . Must have just… Moved really fast.”  
  
“Bro, you literally appeared before my eyes.”  
  
“Then I guess you just… Weren’t paying attention!” Luigi snaps. “I walked! I walked like a normal person! I walked because my legs function just fine, and I can walk wherever I want!”

Mario looks surprised at his brother's outburst, and silently picks up the broken pieces of ceramic from the plate falling. 

Luigi makes himself coffee, fiddling with the hem of his nightshirt as he waits for the coffee maker to heat up. He doesn’t want to go back outside, not after… Whatever _that_ was. He could go to bed, but he didn’t want to sleep yet, especially knowing what sorts of dreams he would have. He could knit? That was always a nice, easy hobby. He had been working on a shawl for Peach before…. Before everything, but would that keep his mind busy enough? His thoughts seemed to be almost _attacking_ him today, and something as mindless as knitting wouldn’t really…. _Help_ with that.

Normally, he would work on some sort of mechanics or robotics project when he couldn’t calm down enough for anything else. He’d throw himself into his work, listening to the radio until his hands took over his head and he was able to just _do_ without thinking. Or, if in the planning stages, lose himself in the planning and math that building things needed. It’s therapeutic. 

But the last project he worked on… Well, is he Mr. L as well as Luigi? He isn’t really sure, but the last thing either of them worked on was Brobot, and… 

Yeah, he’s not ready for making any robots right now. 

He takes his coffee into the living room and lounges on the couch. Polterpup hops up to join him, pushing his legs aside and plopping himself right in the crook of Luigi’s legs, in a prime petting position.

He drinks his coffee in silence, absentmindedly petting Polterpup and waiting for… Something to happen, he supposes. He puts his mug on the coffee table, and snuggles closer to Polterpup, and dozes off.

**Author's Note:**

> Titles from an ajj song bc I couldn't think of a better one. Hopefully I'll finish this.
> 
> Also there's a lot of my personal headcanons in this that I hope make sense as things come along. Luigi's in a weird mental spot right now so he really has no idea what's going on internally. There's a reason Merlon is showing up.
> 
> My way of trying to make Dimension Flipping work in a 3d way is having it be a form of teleportation. It's not great but I really don't have any better ideas.


End file.
